I can’t believe my wish came true!

Ok, before I tell you about my epic trip to London, let me tell you this story first. Let me start by reminding you of my previous blog post, the one where I talked about how I’ve always dreamed of going to London & spotting a celebrity. I think I’m having a lucky streak meting famous people overseas. I once met Gwyneth Paltrow in Tokyo while she was on vacation with her daughter Apple. Then, I shook hands with my favorite Japanese rap artist VERBAL (from the famous JPop duo m-flo) in Shanghai.

This time…I spotted another celebrity on the street. Have you ever heard of the TV show The Royals (shown on the E! Network here in the U.S.)? Do you know of the newly famous actor Tom Austen, who plays a royal bodyguard to the princess on that TV show? Well, in case you don’t know who he is, here’s a photo for your reference. If you do know of him, here’s a reminder of what he looks like.

Ok, ok. So I didn’t actually meet this actor in person, but I did spot him randomly on the street, & I think that should count as a celebrity sighting. I was walking with Jian in the SouthKensington neighborhood looking for a place to grab some lunch. We walked by a French restaurant with a large window wall facing the street. This actor, Tom Austen, was sitting directly in front of the window at a corner table with a mystery woman whom I assume is a private friend of his. He just happened to look up from his plate at the exact time Jian & I walked past the window, & we made brief eye contact. Of course, Tom had a puzzled expression on his face. I tried to look nonchalant & like I wasn’t deliberately looking into the restaurant window.

Jian & I kept walking, but I had to stop him to explain to him all about my excited behavior. Jian at first didn’t believe that this guy we walked past was a real celebrity, so I had to convince him to walk back to the restaurant so we could get another glimpse, & I could prove to him I was right. I made up some lame story to pretend to be interested in the restaurant’s menu, like we might eat there for lunch. Of course the actor knew we had circled back to where he was eating with his friend, & he had another puzzled expression on his face as he noticed us walking by his area again. Then again, this actor always has a puzzled look on his face. In every photo I’ve seen of him on the internet, he always looks puzzled.

Walking back to the restaurant & getting my second glance only bolstered my confirmation that I indeed spotted actor Tom Austen in public…in a high-end, well-to-do neighborhood…having lunch with a semi-attractive brunette woman. In order to truly convince Jian that it really was the actor that we saw, I had to show him Tom’s IMDB profile. Jian’s still not fully convinced, but I’m sticking to my story, & that’s that. Well, I’m off to start on my London vacation blog… Until then, cheers mates!!